Dissertation Proposal

Below is the final version of my dissertation proposal that was submitted on Friday 9th November

Action Adventure Platform Game Development: Rusty & the Cog Bots

by

Philip Rozier

Brief Outline of the Work

For this dissertation module, I plan on developing an action adventure platform game with a user-friendly interface.  The success of the project will require creative design work, sound mixing and the coding of characters, objects and levels within the Unity game engine. The coding within the game will be completed by using Playmaker; a plug-in for Unity.

I am working with a fellow student on the same project and we will contribute equally to the entire project, demonstrating as much technical and creative skill as possible. My personal input will be to implement code into various parts of the game and assist in level design and the creation of small graphics for use throughout the levels.

The tasks that I have selected to undertake are an honest reflection of what I believe I can both achieve and be challenged by throughout this semester.  I am combining my knowledge of the essential elements of core game design with my understanding and appreciation of what constitutes an enjoyable and achievable gaming experience.

Rationale for the Project

The game we have designed has been given the working title ‘Rusty and the Cog Bots’: an action and adventure platform game that can be targeted at all ages.  It was decided to select this style of gameplay as, through my previous studies of genres, I understand it to be a recognised favourite; popular across gender and culture groups and very adaptable for the mobile and on-line markets.  It will also provide great scope for challenging our own ideas and interpretations.

The project will be managed in such a way as to allow for opportunities to add or remove components that we may find manageable or too taxing. Being new to this style of development, I believe it is crucial to adopt a positive, creative and open-minded approach for the success of the module.

Managing enemy movement and behaviour will be an integral part of the development, as it will determine how a player is challenged throughout each level. It will be imperative to balance the increase in difficulty at each level with the manageability of completion, whilst avoiding any frustration or dissatisfaction from the player.

Initial work on Artificial Intelligence will take place within a tech demo and by completing the coding duties in this level first, it will be possible to test the outcomes for suitability and success and make any necessary modifications at this early stage.  Completing this process will allow for player tests and feedback processes to take place.

To allow the enemy to interact more frequently with the player, each level will require more challenging code. This will ensure my coding abilities are stretched and developed, as they will be with the coding for the player pickups.  Within the game, a number of pickups will provide the player with the opportunity to improve qualities such as health, game speed and jumping ability.  This will be repeated for all the power-ups and boosts within the game.  Special consideration will also be given to the pickup placement and accessibility, the success of which will be reviewed following numerous player tests.

For the game to appeal to all audiences, each level will feature multiple difficulty levels. It is intended to incorporate three strands of difficulty per level, thus allowing both inexperienced and seasoned game players to enjoy the game equally. It is accepted that this will be challenging to complete, as it will require multiple enemy difficulties.  However, it will be a necessary element to enhancing the enjoyment and challenge for the player. 

Level design will be the cornerstone of success for this project: creative and imaginative design will make for an enjoyable experience whilst uninspired or dated features will make for a tedious and uninspiring player experience. Therefore, consideration will be given towards entertaining those players who are playing through on the earlier levels and stimulating and challenging the advanced players who win through to the more tricky levels.

As with all good games, our game will make full use of player testing and user feedback in order to refine and modify the game to a high standard.  A number of avenues will be explored to achieve a balance of age, gender and ability amongst the focus groups.

The personal challenge of this task will demonstrate my current skills for the development and design of in-game objects whilst at the same time develop new skills and extend my own learning boundaries.  I will be fully utilising my acquired abilities in creative design as well as undertaking new and more advanced challenges in coding. This will give me an opportunity to display as many talents as I can throughout the project, allowing me to develop into a more complete, all-round game designer and a strong candidate for future employment.  The finished game will sit alongside earlier, successful examples of my work, providing a major contribution to my professional portfolio.

Career opportunities presently advertised for which this work would prove valuable include a post with FULLFAT Games based in Coventry, West Midlands.  The position involves designing and creating 2D Artwork and Graphics for the UI Interface as well as other 2D items on various mobile applications.    Two Junior Developer posts are also advertised: one with Feral Interactive, a publisher and developer of both Mac and iPhone based games and another with AVM, an entertainment company making games for social online & mobile platforms.  These companies seek new graduates with knowledge and creative ideas.  My work lends itself fully to this type of role in the industry.

In conclusion, this project proposal aims to demonstrate the level of acquired knowledge and firm understanding of the elements that go towards the successful development of an action adventure platform game.  It not only incorporates the professional theories and tested practice that exists as success criteria for such games but also recognises the pitfalls and shortcomings that can come about as a result of the inexperience or lack of knowledge and understanding on the part of the developer.  Ultimately, the intention of the entire project is to showcase my own learning, skills and development for the purposes of achieving a successful academic goal and future employability.

Timeline for Action Adventure Platform Game Development: Rusty & the Cog Bots

End of August 2012 –

·      Idea for the game to be finalised.

·      Begin work on learning Playmaker

·      Create tech demo

End of September 2012-

·      Begin work on coding the pickups and AI. 

·      Research articles for use in development.

·      Full review meeting with partner before start of semester

Early October 2012 – Begin work on dissertation proposal: first drafts.

End October 2012 - Complete work on:

·      enemy movement

·      following the character

·      looking at the character

·      first dissertation proposal

November 5^th 2012 – submit proposal for advice

November 9^th 2012 (or before) – Hand in final proposal

End of Nov – Complete work on pickups and enemy navigation

Mid-December 2013 – Meet with specialist tutor

End of December 2012

·      Have a playable level that has been play tested and polished.

·      Work on presentation update for January

Wb.January 21, 2013 – PowerPoint presentation (date to be given)

End of January 2013 –

·      Complete work on a further level

End of February 2013 –

·      Have multiple working levels in place.

·      Broaden scope of playtesting (possibly with school pupils)

·      Use feedback to modify game

End of March 2013 – Have a number of polished levels completed

End of April 2013–

·      Have a finished game with polished levels,

·      Have evidence from finished and complete playtest sessions on the final game from as wide an audience as possible including Suffolk University Waterfront Games website.

Early May 2013 –

·      Present work to specialist tutor for review and advice before final submission

·      Modify/final adjustments to be made

Mid-May 2013 (by 17^th May) – Final Submission

Regular events throughout the project:

·      Weekly meetings with partner

·      Making 2D assets

·      Creating sound

·      Play testing new features

·      Tutorials for Playmaker and Unity

·      Research articles for use in development

·      Meet with specialist tutor when required

Annotated Bibliography

1.  Various Authors & Contributors, Difficulty Level, Giant Bomb.

This webpage information details reasons why game developers use difficulty levels as a way of allowing a player to make choices.  In my own game I recognise that if the player is to get the maximum enjoyment they need to have some control over the amount of challenge they want to feel as they play through a game. By adding difficulty levels to a game it offers multiple choices to a player so that they can choose a level that is close to their level of skill, or just choose a level that suits their playing style best.

Accessed 14^th October 2012. http://www.giantbomb.com/difficulty-level/92-183/

2.  Various Authors & Contributors, Difficulty Level, Giant Bomb.

The advice given here on changes to difficulty levels matches my own understanding about why these are necessary.  Changes to the game that different difficulty levels make are different in every game, but some common characteristic elements include those already detailed in my dissertation such as the amount of health or the speed a player has.  Others quoted include the amount of enemies encountered and the amount of damage enemies deal.

Accessed 14^th October 2012. http://www.giantbomb.com/difficulty-level/92-183/

3.  Jack Arnott, (June 17^th 2009), Take 5: Platform Game, Guardian News Agency plc.

This Guardian news article champions the platform game genre.  It is because of the very reasons given in this text that our own game development chose a platform style.  It is because a platform game offers such simple, controllable fun that any gender, age or ability can easily access it.  Despite technology taking massive leaps the platform genre remains a winning favourite and for that reason it has been selected to represent our ideas.

Accessed 20^th October 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/jun/17/best-

platform-games

4.  FlipC, (February 24^th 2011), Video Game Collectables: notes for designers, Blogspot.

This article on video game collectables explains why these are so necessary to gaming.  In developing Rusty and the Cog Bots the inclusion of Pick-ups mirrors what is suggested in the article: that they are to extend the playing time of the game and to add variety to the whole experience.  It is recognised that of the two main categories of collectables mentioned in the article, we have selected what is termed here as ‘World difference’ only, as it is felt that ‘No world difference’ collectables do not generate the same level of satisfaction to a game.

Accessed 7^th October 2012.     http://flipc.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/video-game-collectables-notes-for.html

5.  FlipC, (February 24^th 2011), Video Game Collectables: notes for designers, Blogspot.

The details in this article provides a number of excellent suggestions about the use of collectables and how best to utilize them to best advantage for the game.

From the suggestions made here our own game development was modified to include risk taking, placement for exploration, positioning, marking and numbering.  This was useful advice and helped to redirect some aspects of our decision making.

Accessed 7^th October 2012.  http://flipc.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/video-game-collectables-notes-for.html

6.  Laura Parker, The Science of Playtesting: UK Gamespot.

This webpage article outlines clearly the reasons why play testing is so important to game developers.  It was already an important feature to be included in our own game development but this article confirmed our thinking and also reminded us to test at regular intervals with a variety of testers.  It also taught us that with testing comes subjective opinions that can alter the course of a game considerably.  The article also reminded us that testing will be important to prevent us, as developers, losing sight of how the game will play to the gamer as opposed to the developer.

Accessed 7^th October 2012.  http://uk.gamespot.com/features/the-science-of-playtesting-6323661/

7.  Ed Fear, The Top 10 Game Engines, No. 4: Unity 3D.

This article confirms my understanding that Unity is a recognized, well respected and well-used game engine amongst game developers.  Its compatibility with a range of devices is particularly useful, saving time and money when developing for a variety of platforms.

Accessed 4^th November 2012.  http://www.develop-online.net/features/516/THE-TOP-10-GAME-ENGINES-NO4-Unity-3D

8.  Blake Snow, Why Most People Don’t Finish Video Game, Finishing Video games.

The evidence presented in this article is a timely reminder about the need to respect the interest level of the player.  It lists a number of reasons as to why players abandon games e.g. difficulty, repetitiveness, duration, lack of time.  It is important to pay attention to this article in order not to forget how important player testing is in the successful development of games.  Games must be worth players’ time and money to be rated well.

Accessed 27^th September 2012.

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-08 17/tech/finishing.videogames.snow_1_red-dead-redemption-entertainment-software-association-avid-gamers?_s=PM:TECH

9.  James Wexler, (May 7^th 2002), Artificial Intelligence in Games

This interesting article details how AI has evolved over many years from ‘Pong’ ‘Market simulators, logic systems, and economic planners’ are listed as some of the different fields of computer software that rely heavily on elements of artificial intelligence.  It then explains that as video games have become more complex, interesting and engaging AI now shapes gameplay in a major way.  One game in particular, “Black and White” by Lionhead Studios is exampled as how advanced and complex video games can now be with the use of AI.  I found this article particularly interesting in view of the fact that this area is one I am involved in developing for my own project.

Accessed 20^th October 2012. http://www.cs.rochester.edu/~brown/242/assts/termprojs/games.pdf

10.  Julie Weed, (November 6^th 2012), Video Games for All Ages, Seattle Times.

In understanding of how to make my own game as appealing to as wide an audience as possible I was interested in reading this latest article about games and families.  I was astounded at 20 million players playing simple games such as ‘Words with Friends’; a version of Scrabble and Draw Something which is like Pictionary.  It reminded me that to be accessible to the audience I am targeting I need to keep my game fun, simple to understand and relatively easy to play without losing the thrill and excitement of challenge and humour.

Accessed 6^th November 2012. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2018025676_ptteentween21.html

Word Count without Annotated Bibliography or timeline: 1032

Word Count without Annotated Bibliography: 1323